Doesn't everyone wish Florida would've lost to Arkansas?  I mean even if you are a Gator fan wouldn't you still have loved to hear Tim Tebow re-enact his semi-famous speech from last year after Florida lost to Ole Miss at home.  This looked almost like the exact same game.  Somehow the Gators prevailed and we all missed out on another classic.  Speaking of classics, it sure seemed like classic Notre Dame fashion to not be able to win the big game.  Coach Chuck says that he's proud of his team and they played well though.  Whoop-de-doo!  There's either winners or losers and Charlie continually keeps losing.  He has never beat a Top 25 team in his Notre Dame tenure.  I think their season is going to unravel after this game.  At least one more loss, maybe next week to Michigan State, but definitely another loss.  Charlie before the game said that this is the first time since he's been coach that the team feels like they could actually beat USC.  That just tells me that you aren't a good enough coach if you don't have your players believing every week that they're going to win.  How about that awesome Red River Shootout!!!  I think ESPN is right calling it the Red River Rivalry.  That was nowhere near a shootout.  The pre-game video of Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy playing ping pong was more exciting then that game.  Sam has another trip to see Dr. James Andrews again after this one though.  I don't know who has been ruining their career more this year; Sam Bradford or Kanye West.  The Ohio State University had a stellar performance against Purdue, or should I say Mr. Terrelle Pryor had a stellar performance against the Boiler Makers.  The Buckeyes lost to a 1-5 Purdue team after TP threw a couple picks and didn't look too grandiose in their eight point loss.  Ohio State just doesn't know what to do with him.  Run or Pass is the dilemma every week.  I'm going with 5-1 odds that he's in jail by the age of 28.  Any takers?  It just seems like the most hyped college football player in years can't get the job done and he'll still get a shot in the NFL and still won't do anything and will fall apart after a year or two.  The last big college football news is that the first BCS standings came out yesterday.  No further comment needed because who cares until the end of the season.  I'm just hoping Iowa, Texas, Cincinnati, Boise State, and TCU win out and then we have the winner of the SEC championship between Florida/Alabama.  Somehow I think people will still want USC in the championship even with their one loss.  Remember they lost to a pitiful Washington team!  Lets just nix them now.

Well one big NFL game lived up to the hype the other one surely didn't.  The New Orleans Saints just obliterated the New York Giants yesterday as Drew Brees got back to form passing for touchdowns all over the NFL's previously considered #1 pass defense.  The Giants just looked bad and couldn't get anything going.  The other game big game was the Ravens against the Vikings.  The Vikings came out strong and all signs pointed to them running away with the game, but the Ravens came back to take the lead with three minutes left.  Unfortunately for the Vikings they couldn't hold on to the lead and their kicker missed a make able field goal at the end of regulation to lose the game.  Another team that started out hot that lost a game they should've won was the New York Jets.  They lost to the Bills at home in overtime!  Wow!  Mark Sanchez looked terrible and this is the exact reason why people shouldn't get caught up in a team's success after three games.  Everyone praised the Jets and the Ravens as two of the toughest teams to beat in the AFC and then they both ran off three straight losses.  The Ravens definitely look a lot better then the Jets, but both teams are beatable.  We also figured out that if your team needs a win then just request to play the Washington Redskins.  The Redskins continue their streak of providing a win to teams who don't have any.  It shouldn't even be considered a win by beating the Redskins anymore.  Beating the Redskins is like claiming you're no longer a virgin after banging a blowup doll.  They're pathetic and Jim Zorn will be fired after next week's loss to Philadelphia. Now to the Eagles!  How do the Eagles lose to the Oakland Raiders?  That was such a miserable display of football that the Eagles couldn't put up a touchdown against the Raiders.  JaMarcus Russell held onto his job for the rest of the year with that one; at least based on Al Davis standards.  We really need to find the Al Davis formula of success and concoct some type of algorithm for it.  It's like every win equals another team's four wins, every touchdown equals five, and everything thats negative (fumbles, interceptions, and safeties) are still considered positive in some sort of fashion.  I don't even know if Al cares if his team wins anymore as long as he sees a lot of scoring.

The Steelers beat the Browns like normal.  The Rams lost again; this time in overtime!  Lastly we need to discuss the the Patriots bludgeoning of the Tennessee Titans.  I'm still not convinced that the Titans are this bad; I think their actually just pulling off a hoax with the assistance of Richard Heene.  I mean seriously.  Watching balloon boy puke on television is more entertaining then watching the Tennessee Titans.  Has LenDale White started drinking Patron again and gaining his weight back.  That contract year weight loss isn't going to matter after this season.  Tonight we got the Chargers vs. the Broncos.  I keep thinking the Chargers are going to win, but then again I keep on thinking the Broncos are going to lose.  So I guess the Broncos are going to win.

There's been a lot of discussions about concussions in football recently.  We just saw Tim Tebow have a major concussion a few weeks ago and weekly it seems that another player experiences a helmet to helmet hit and the discussion comes up again.  There has been new reports and TV programs that have analyzed concussions in-depth and determined that head injuries can cause Alzheimer's, brain loss, or dementia at a much younger age.  I'm all for this type of analysis, but lets be realistic about one thing.  The NFL is never going to stop because of concussions.  Even if a player dies on the field the NFL won't stop playing.  Did anyone really think that getting hit in the head was a good thing?  I think it is pretty obvious that it's not the smartest thing and severe injuries and early health problems can occur from them.  That's the nature of the game.  That's the nature of the profession.  The players put themselves in these situations and they know the risk they are going through.  Of course it's unfortunate and I don't want to see any player have a head injury, but it's part of the job.  Baseball pitchers are going to have shoulder problems, people who sit in front of a computer screen are going to have eye problems, people who perform physical labor are going to have back problems, and NFL players who get hit in the head are going to have brain problems.  Every new study comes out and we look at all the negatives involved in them; let's start looking at the positives.  Let's take this new information and use it in new technologies to reduce the risk of severe brain injuries within football.  I think we all understand that it's a major problem, but the game isn't going to change anymore than it already has.  There are lots of rules trying to protect against all head injuries so lets stop the NFL is going to end talk and start talking about new helmets or devices that can limit these injuries.  Injuries are going to happen, it's part of the game.  Let's look at trying to eliminate the injuries instead of looking at trying to eliminate the game.

Today is a very big day!  Not because we have some great college football matchups, but because the winner of the USC versus Notre Dame game will create pockets full of money for their starting quarterback.  Now it's only one game and there's plenty of other games to look at when we see Matt Barkley and the Trojans travel to South Bend to play against Jimmy Clausen and the Irish, but this one game will determine a large rise in draft stock for whomever wins this game.  Now they both could have great games and I don't think either can be hurt by this one game, but when two national powerhouses square-off then there's always a little extra aura to it.  Maybe there's more fans watching, or scouts watching, or coaches watching, but something about the big games helps to bolster a player's stock.  Matt Barkley is a freshman quarterback who won't be leaving USC anytime soon, but a win here will not only get him high on the 2012 mock drafts, but also will immediately put him in Heisman contention next year.  Jimmy Clausen on the other hand has the most to gain in this matchup.  He's only a junior so he still could have another year to play, but he definitely has the arm and attributes to be a NFL quarterback maybe even more then the top runners of Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy.  Notre Dame is a 10pt underdog, so if they can find a way to win, and Jimmy Clausen is a crucial part of the win, then he will propel himself up the mock draft boards and has a chance to be a top 10 pick.

One game may not seem like much, but it means a lot.  Perception is everything.  If you see an NFL quarterback in either of these players then it immediately helps them.  If you see USC or Notre Dame playing a cupcake team then nobody cares if either of them threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns.  If you take a look back into the 2007 Sugar Bowl between LSU and Notre Dame where LSU clobbered the Irish you will remember two highly touted quarterbacks facing off against one another.  We had JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn in a big time game that determined draft stock for both of them.  Now neither of them has done much in their NFL careers, but that single game helped JaMarcus Russell become the #1 pick overall in the 2007 draft and Brady Quinn dropped down to pick #22 after being considered a top five player all year long.  A lot of different analysts look for a lot of different things in a pro quarterback.  Some want to see the arm strength, accuracy, can he make all the necessary passes, instincts, read coverage, footwork, and study habits, while others want to know one thing; can he win the big game!  This game looks like the winning quarterback will have positives for any type of analyst out there.  The bigger question is actually for Notre Dame fans; would you rather Jimmy Clausen be drafted higher and a win versus USC or do you want him back next year in hopes of a National Championship?  We'll find out which one is praised mightily after the two teams play at 3:30 today.

There's nothing worse in a fantasy football league then having a poor commissioner. You know, the guy who never sets the rules correctly at the beginning of the season, has to change scoring midway through the season, or never keeps anyone updated on what's going on. If you're commish does that then you're satisfied, but there's always more he can do. I've been participating in fantasy football leagues for about 8 years, but have only been a commissioner for the past two years. I enjoy it, I want to do it, and I want to be the best at it. I care about the league and that's what is most important. I've learned that the other owners in the league appreciate it greatly and after the first year they truly do appreciate it, especially if they've been in a poor run league before. So I want to help other commish's with some suggestions how to liven up your league or if you're not the commish then you can give the suggestions to your league commish to use.

I enjoy shit talking; the problem is that you can't force your league to do it. I try to emphasize players ripping on other teams and talking shit about how they'll beat so and so team this week. In my league people don't usually respond often so I take things into my own hands. Every Tuesday I do a recap of all the previous weekend's games and get to rip on all the teams' bad moves, including myself. People enjoy hearing about their matchups and getting someone else's thoughts on it. The main thing that every commish should do is have power rankings. This causes so much animosity and it's the easiest thing to do. Basically it's just every power ranking in that it doesn't really matter and it's not based on points or record. If you win for the week you usually move up and if you lose you go down. It's an easy way to provide an outlook on how you see the teams performing. The last thing every commish should do is provide interesting polls for people to use. You want players to be on the site frequently and these ideas are positive ways to do so.

If you really want to go the extra mile then this is what you do. Have a seasonal history section and a league history section. I like to provide season history of the highest score, lowest score, biggest defeat margin, and highest single player score for the year. For league history you have highest score, lowest score, biggest defeat margin, longest winning streak, longest losing streak, and past champions. This gives some interesting stats for people to try to achieve and some stats that people don't want to be a part of. The history provides some good commentary to talk about during the recaps and helps you formulate polls. The other thing I really enjoy doing is providing short predictions for each matchup each week and compare my record to ESPN's. This gives some insight to each team in who I think they should be starting and how who I think will prevail in the matchup. By doing all these things you will be a great commissioner that everyone appreciates and people will want to come back year after year.

Sports teams are businesses and the players are the employees of the businesses.  I don't think a lot of fans and media get that on an everyday basis though.  Just yesterday we got news that Brady Quinn has put up his house near Cleveland up for sale; he said he wanted to be closer and it's too big, while we know that he wants out of Cleveland.    The problem with the fans and media though is that immediately we want to make him be the bad guy.  We immediately start calling him a baby or say he's just being a bitch, when the fact of the matter is that his career depends on what he's doing now.  Nobody wants to be second fiddle at their place of employment and if you are replaced then why would you want to stay.  The Cleveland Browns is where careers go to die so I don't blame Brady for trying to get out of there.  How many quarterbacks have prospered in Cleveland in the last 20 years?  If you are at your job and you get demoted and then could have a chance to better yourself at a better company wouldn't you want to take it?  The problem with everyone looking into a player's situation is that we can't differentiate the business side of things and the fact that they are getting paid multi-millions to play a game.  The fact of the matter is that if we put ourselves in the same situation we'd probably feel slighted and have some of the same reactions as well.

The two biggest scenarios where unhappy players played out was in the off-season with Denver.  We saw Jay Cutler getting pretty upset that his new coach tried to trade him and we saw Brandon Marshall act like a fool because he didn't get a new contract extension.  Now there's always better ways to handle almost any situation, and people make mistakes, but after looking back at these players I think what they were trying to achieve is what they both deserved.  The real question is do the ends justify the means?  Were their antics and public perception worth getting what they wanted?  Take a look at Cutler and put his scenario into a normal person's life.  You are the operations manager at a company and have done a solid job the past two years.  Most everyone in the company thinks you are doing a great job and you are helping to improve the company.  Suddenly there is a change in ownership and because of this the new owner wants to get rid of you in favor of someone he has a personal relationship with.  I would be very upset and I don't blame Cutler at all.  The last thing you would want to do is to work for someone like that and by him requesting a trade he rectified the situation for both parties and they both have created positives out of negatives from it.

I just think we need to take a look at the whole scenario before we start condemning a player for requesting a trade or wanting a new contract.  Just because they make millions of dollars doesn't mean they don't want the same satisfaction of being appreciated or promoted like anyone else does in the workplace.  So let's look at the whole picture before we start complaining about players complaining, because they have a much more legitimate case to bitch then we do.